I don't have any specific info., but IMO it would be a wonderful thing
for your
mom. It would give her confidence and give you more peace of mind. We
were starting to look at one for Dad, but he gave up on staying home
and
wanted to go back to skilled nursing care. The brand I was looking at
was called "Lifeline", but there are many. IIRC *you* tell them which
numbers
to phone after the button is activated and they are alerted. And
alternate
numbers, just so someone will be reached if they can't reach you.

Sherry

The woman who was my mother's roommate in the nursing home for about a year
was later able to move back to an apartment on her own.  I still visit her
an take her out to dinner occasionally.  She has that system, and it has
worked very well for her.  The one she has is a device that she wears around
her neck (like a necklace) at all times when she is at home.  She presses a
button if she is in distress.  There is also some sort of "home base" unit
like you described.  She presses a button on that once a day to show that
she is alright, and she needs to remove the one from around her neck any
time she leaves the premises.  I'm not sure about more details than that,
but it works well for her.  On the other hand, she is *very good* about
always wearing it when she is home and also remembering to take it off when
she leaves home base.  She places it on her bed any time she needs to remove
it (such as for a bath), and that serves as an immediate reminder to put it
on again.  I think she pays about $35.00 a month.  I could ask for more
details if this sounds like what your mother needs.  I know there are some
systems that are administered by some hospitals, and others are are
available only through commercial outlets.

MaryL

Jill - I did some online research about 4 months ago and ended up going
with:
www.alert-1.com/plans.asp

It costs my mother $19.95 a month - paid quarterly.  She is happy with the
neck cord alarm button - so light that she forgets she's wearing it.  (You
can have a wrist button but the neck cord is recommended because you can use
it with either hand)  Because she is outside gardening so much, we tested
the unit from various areas of her yard - she was not able to hear the
AlertOne operator speaking from the base unit but the AlertOne operator
easily heard the alarm and would have sent help if necessary.  She was able
to hear and converse with the operator from all rooms within her house.  I
like the fact that you can have various people called in whatever order you
choose - I wanted the squad called first and then me.  I also like their
recommendation to keep vital medical info in the refrigerator (because
everyone has one) where it is easily accessable to the EMS team - My mother
was so taken with this idea that she used a big pickle jar so she could
include her living will.

The system you see advertised most on TV with Dr.C. Everett Koop was about
$59 per month and they charge about $300 to set up the unit (including smoke
detectors)  Online research persuaded me to go elsewhere.

A funny:  My daughter called me in a panic - she had received a notification
call from AlertOne - We both dashed over to my mother's home to find the
squad had just left.  My mother had unknowingly leaned on the alarm button
against a cabinet and the next thing she knew, the squad was at her door.
She was mortified but I told her to consider it a good test (also accused
her of plotting to have nice men
showing up at her place).  She has since shortened the cord (very simple).
On thinking about it, I don't know why she didn't hear the AlertOne operator
who would have asked (through the speaker unit) whether she needed help.

Am sure there are other good plans but we are happy with this one....Lorna

My neighbor has this but is about to not have.  Everytime something doesn't
work the way she wants, she "pushes the button".  Someone knocked at her
door and she couldn't go answer it so she called them.  Set a lot of things
in motion before they had to be cancelled.  They have to understand what it
is for and, when some need it they are past that point.

When my mother was still living on her own, we got an alarm system for her
(a chain around her neck).  I don't remember the name--it was a local
company.  She has always been an avid gardener and at first the alarm didn't
work outdoors very well; for an additional fee we were able to extend the
range so she could still be in her garden.  The biggest problem we had was
convincing her to wear it; it wasn't her idea to begin with (a BIG problem!)
and we didn't realize til later that she was starting down that dark road of
dementia.

She never actually used it to call emergency services.  Having a system that
checks in with the user would be great.  I don't remember if hers did; we
(my sisters and I) would call her several times a week to make sure she was
okay and she loved (loves) hearing from us.

Bonnie

I looked into those (in Canada but I think they're the same in USA)
after my mother broke her hip last year, but she ended up not getting
it.  The cheaper ones simply call you if you sound the alert. Big help
if you're on the floor and can't get to the phone.

The more expensive services will call you, then call one of your 3
contacts if you don't respond. They don't come to your rescue, but will
send someone who has to have a key so the ambulance can get in.  If you
do get one, get the necklace alert button so she doesn't have to crawl
to the phone.  In the end she thought it was too expensive, so I put
phones in every room, near floor level, with speed dial on each one.

Bobble

Hi Jill,

I recently looked into this for MIL...  she ended up not needing it
(she had a medical condition that caused her to be very weak, and now that
they figured that out, she no longer feels she needs it).  We had looked
into Lifeline
from a local VNA.  It works like many have described already...  if the
button
is pushed, the call center will phone her.  If she is unable to answer,
they will notify
the people on her list (neighbors, near-by relatives) to check on her...
moving on to
an ambulance if no one can be reached to check her, or if the neighbor
or whoever
needs them...  It's a great service for elderly.

Working with the elderly population a lot, I've also heard some other
good ideas.  I took care
of one woman who closes her curtains at night.  If they aren't open by 9
am, she has a few
neighbors willing to check on her.  Meals on Wheels does the same...  if
no one answers
the door with meal delivery at 11:30, and they can't get in to deliver
the meals, a designated
person (or people) is notified.  But she has to remember to call and
cancel if she isn't going
to be home.  There was also some service that the client had to call a
center by a particular
time of day, and if they didn't, they were called by the service,
however that didn't include
any kind of emergency button thing to push.  I figured we could do that
for free....
 Of course this is how it works in my city...  your experiences may vary...

Take care and good luck!

shelly  (back into lurking mode)
remove "munged" for e mail

I don't have any personal experience with them, but if you can get a good
recommendation, and your mother is actually interested, I'd go for it!  My
mother refused to consider one, and we would all have felt much better about
her if she had had one.

Joy

I think most of the commercial services furnish some sort of pendant or
bracelet with a "panic button".  However, I'm not sure how close to the
main unit you must be, for those to connect with the "help" people.
Most of them (the reputable ones) will provide references by referring
you to satisfied customers.  (And price may be a factor in how helpful
and efficient they are.)  If your mom already HAS a security service,
chances are they can provide one of the pendant gadgets, if requested.
(If the system is already installed, there shouldn't be much of a charge
- if any - just for the pendant.)

Place I live has some sort of "life line" gadget in each apartment that
sets off an alarm on their main switchboard, but the pendant doesn't
work outside of your apartment, and good luck getting anyone to answer
if you DO try to use it to summon help!  I think they are a bit prompter
about it in the "assisted living" units, but "independent living" means
you're pretty much on your own, and better off calling 911 than using
the gadget to call for help from the main desk.  If you've "fallen and
can't get up", they're likely to leave you lying there until the
paramedics arrive, even if you only need help getting back on your feet.
 (They claim their insurance doesn't cover their "caregivers" providing
that sort of assistance - especially if you're a bit on the heavy side.)

All the units in the independent living facility my mom and dad lived in
were pretty thoroughly wired.  Smoke alarms called the fire dept etc.
Buttons in all the bathrooms.  She needed them once.

If she would keep it on her, one of the medical alert things could be a
blessing.  I'm sure you will call her a couple of times a day when you are
gone too.

My MIL fell into an awkward position and was stuck on the floor for nearly a
day once.  She was very lucky it wasn't for longer, only happenstance a
relative stopped by.  And she wasn't in particularly bad shape at the time.
Just a nasty slip and fall and couldn't get to a phone.

Charlie was home alone when he fell from the ladder in the garage and
crushed his heel.  Not that he had any business up there when he was home
alone.  His track record when I'm out of town is really bad.

Jo